Films by Ron Schmidt

USA, Germany 2010, 37 min
by Jason Schmidt

"I built Auschwitz... because I arrived in the first transport." Memory, art and hell collide as an Auschwitz survivor finally confronts the horrors of his past after 50 years of silence. Marian Kolodziej, prisoner number 432, was 17 and on one of the first transports to enter Auschwitz on June 14, 1940. Kolodziej, a Polish Catholic, survived five years imprisonment and never spoke of his experience until after a serious stroke in 1993. He began physical rehabilitation by doing pen and ink drawi

Polen 2008
by Christof Wolf

Auschwitz – unique symbol of methodically perfected horror, and at the same time destination for daily streams of tourists. How can an encounter with this place avoid the banality of a visit? This question was asked by New York Zen master Roshi Bernhard Glassman. His answer: the „Auschwitz Retreat“. He invites people of different ethnicity and belief to face Auschwitz directly and without cover. The group will spend five days in meditation, silence, prayer and sharing on the very grounds of the

USA 2006
by Christof Wolf

Bernard Glassman teaches a distillation of Zen wisdom that can be used as a guide for business, social ventures, peacemaking or just life. The documentary demonstrates the uniqueness and human impact of Glassman‘s work and life. Not only a Zen teacher, he works as a peacemaker in the field of interfaith dialog throughout the world. He has helped change a whole neighbourhood in Yonkers (New York). The film shows how one can live a life that matters.